UK Scientists discovered the Deepest Hydrothermal Vents in the World

Kunal

Feb 24, 2013 18:50 IST

UK scientists in the third week of January 2013 discovered a set of hydrothermal vents, the deepest anywhere in the world while exploring the ocean floor in the Caribbean islands. Scientists used ROV (Remotely operated vehicle) in the Cayman Trough to make this discovery. They stumbled across a previously-unknown site nearly 5000m below the surface.

In the huge pressure of the sea three miles down, the ROV, which is also known as ISIS, was gently steered around the vents, to take pictures and gather samples.

Hydrothermal vents are among the strangest features of the deep ocean and their existence was hidden until the 1970s. Since then they have been discovered at about 200 sites across the globe which includes the Southern Ocean and the Atlantic. However it was in 2010 that vents were first detected in the Cayman Trough, a deep trench formed by the boundary between two tectonic plates. One set of vents, known as Beebe, was considered as the deepest on record prior to the recent discovery made in the Ocean floor of Caribbean islands.

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